Thousands expected for funeral of fan who fell

BROWNWOOD, Texas
— Front-office executives from the Texas Rangers and firefighters from across Texas were expected to arrive in Brownwood on Monday for the funeral of the 39-year-old man who fell to his death trying to catch a souvenir baseball tossed by his son’s favorite player.

Shannon Stone was to be remembered at a memorial service Monday at the First United Methodist Church, followed by a procession to the cemetery that was expected to include more than 100 fire trucks.

Stone took his 6-year-old son, Cooper, to a Rangers game about a three-hour drive away in Arlington on Thursday night. They stopped to buy the boy a new glove, and sat in left field, behind Cooper’s favorite player, Josh Hamilton. Hamilton threw them a foul ball, but Stone fell headfirst about 20 feet onto concrete.